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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Threats to a Colorado river provisioning basin under coupled future climate and societal scenarios

Clean, reliable supplies of water are critical to the sustainability and resilience of communities, including water needed for energy and food production, industry, drinking water, and other human and ecological needs. However, water infrastructure and management in the United States are largely optimized for historic conditions—designed and operated to respond to social needs, and past mean and extreme streamflow, which may no longer apply in the future. Temperature, precipitation, ecosystem dynamics, energy and food production, and social systems are all experiencing changes, which cumulatively affect the security of water supply. Here, we examine the impact of these changes in a provisioning basin in the arid Southwest, the San Juan River, which supplies water, food, and energy to the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. Our analysis applies a multi-model framework to examine future climate and water use scenarios. Results demonstrate that the San Juan River basin could experience significant disruptions to water deliveries (-12% to -48% for the drier models) and shortages that exceed manageable thresholds (53% to 73% of water in shorted years), potentially affecting both the local basin as well as other regions that receive water and energy from the San Juan. While water stress metrics vary across the scenarios, results indicate the need for government, industry, and communities to consider options for adapting to water supply shifts. These results raise important questions regarding the resilience of water resources in basins across the West under future scenarios and implications for energy, food, and other water supply needs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Elevation Grid for top Columbia River Basalt (CRBG) in the Portland Basin used in DDU Feasibility Study

The Portland Basin is a prime location to assess the feasibility of DDU-TES because natural geologic conditions provide thermal and hydraulic separation from overlying aquifers that would otherwise sweep away stored heat. Under the Portland Basin, the lower Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) aquifers contain brackish water (1,000-10,000 mg/L TDS), indicating low groundwater flow rates and poor connection with the overlying regional aquifer. Further, CRBG lavas tend to have comparatively low thermal conductivity, indicating that the 400-1,000 ft thick CRBG may be an effective thermal barrier to the overlying aquifer. A temporally and spatially limited previous study of a Portland Basin CRBG aquifer demonstrated that the injection of waste heat resulted in an increase in temperature by more than a factor of two, indicating a high potential for storing heat. This data submission includes ASCII grid surfaces for the Portland and Tualatin Basins including a DEM of modern topography, the top of Columbia River Basalt (CRB), the base of CRB, and basement. It also includes three isochore (thickness) maps between these intervals. In addition, there is an ArcGIS attribute table for associated data points, a map of data types used to constrain the top of CRB, and cross-sections, all made using IHS Kingdom Suite, Petrosys PRO, ESRI ArcGIS, and Adobe Illustrator software.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Appalachian Basin Play Fairway Analysis Thermal Risk Factor and Quality Analyses

*This submission revises the analysis and products for Thermal Quality Analysis for the northern half of the Appalachian Basin (https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/638)* This submission is one of five major parts of a Low Temperature Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis. Phase 1 of the project identified potential Geothermal Play Fairways within the Appalachian basin of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. This submission includes a subset of the necessary shapefiles, rasters, datasets, code, and references to code repositories that were used to create the thermal resource and risk factor maps as part of the project. This subset is those contents that were improved upon during calendar year 2016. Figures are provided as examples of some shapefiles and rasters. See also: Final Report: Low Temperature Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis for the Appalachian Basin (https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/899). The 2015 data submission should be visited to obtain: 1) the regional standardized 1 square km grid used in the project as points (cell centers), polygons, and as a raster, 2) the raw well data for the state well temperature databases, 3) the COSUNA section shapefile and formation thermal conductivities by state as *.xlsx files, 4) the sediment thickness map and 30 m Digital Elevation Model for the Appalachian Basin as GeoTIFF raster files, 5) the BHT correction sections shapefile and drilling fluid databases as *.csv files, 6) the unbuffered interpolation regions as shapefiles, 7) several 50 km buffered interpolation regions as shapefiles, 8) several gridded interpolation regions as raster files, 9) an R script for organizing the thermal data and running the local spatial outlier analysis, 10) shapefiles and rasters for the prediction, uncertainty, and cross validation of the temperature at 1.5 km, 2.5 km, and 3.5 km depth, 11) shapefiles and rasters for the prediction, uncertainty, and cross validation depth to 100 degrees C, 12) an ArcGIS toolbox for thermal risk factor models, 13) an ArcGIS model for extracting results specific to each county of interest, 14) thermal resource cross section plots, 15) the geothermal Play Fairways.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data associated with “Different methods of estimating riverbed sediment grain size diverge at the basin scale ” (v2)

This data package is associated with the publication “Different methods of estimating riverbed sediment grain size diverge at the basin scale” published in Frontiers in Earth Science (Regier et al., 2025). The distribution of sediment grain size in streams and rivers is often quantified by the median grain size (d50), a key metric for understanding and predicting hydrologic and biogeochemical function of streams and rivers. Manual methods to measure d50 are time-consuming and ignore larger grains, while model-based methods to estimate d50 often over-generalize basin characteristics, and therefore cannot accurately represent site-scale heterogeneity. Here, we apply a machine learning-enabled photogrammetry methodology (You Only Look Once, or YOLO) for estimating d50 for grains > 2 mm based on images collected from streams and rivers throughout the Yakima River Basin (YRB). To understand how such methods may help bridge the gaps in resolution and accuracy between manual and catchment characteristics model-based d50 estimates, we compared YOLO d50 values to manual and model-based estimates across the YRB. We found distinct differences among methods for d50 averages and variability, and relationships between d50 estimates and basin characteristics. Source images can be found at https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/view/doi:10.15485/1892052. This data package was originally published in May 2023. It was updated August 2025 (v2; new and modified files). File and folder names were not revised to indicate changes. See the change history section in the readme for more details. In addition to the readme, this data package also includes a file-level metadata (FLMD) file that describes each file and a data dictionary (DD) that describes all column/row headers and variable definitions. This dataset is comprised of one main data folder containing (1) file-level metadata; (2) data dictionary; (3) readme; (4) and subfolders containing data, figures, and scripts. The data folder contains datasets used for the analyses in the manuscript in image, text-delimited or geospatially-referenced formats. The figures folder contains the figures from the manuscript in different formats. The scripts folder contains all of the scripts used to complete the analyses in the manuscript. All files are .csv, .rds, .dbf, .prj, .shp, .shx, .jpg, .png, .R, .Rproj, or .pdf. We acknowledge the Yakama Nation as owners and caretakers of the lands where we collected some of these data. We thank the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council and Yakama Nation Fisheries for working with us to facilitate sample collection and optimization of data usage according to their values and worldview.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dataset: "Widespread Drought-driven Declines in Streamflows and Water quality in the Upper Colorado River Basin (1998-2022)"

This data package contains the associated data and scripts for Nagamoto, E., Ombadi, M., Ciulla, F. et al. Widespread drought-driven declines in streamflows and water quality in the Upper Colorado River Basin during 1998-2022. Commun Earth Environ 7, 734 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03890-5. This purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the 21st century drought on water quantity and quality at catchments throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). We used stream flow, water temperature, specific conductance, air temperature, precipitation, and catchment attribute data for over 200 sites in the UCRB, collected from the National Water Information System using Basin3D (Varadharajan, 2023), GAGESII (Falcone, 2010), and the Google Earth Engine. We identified years of severe drought between 1998 and 2022 using the Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI), then calculated the relative change percentage of the stream flow, water temperature, and specific conductance from drought versus non-drought years. We used the attribute information from GAGESII to investigate what physical traits of catchments are associated streamflow vulnerability (greater relative change) or resilience to drought. We used land cover data from the National Land Cover Database (USGS, 2024) to assess any changes to physical attributes that may not be represented in the static attributes information in GAGESII. To increase data availability, we modeled stream temperature using methods from Willard, 2023. While the study period is water years 1998 to 2022, the raw water quantity and quality data extends to 1950 and the meteorological data extends to 1980. The data and code can be downloaded via the UCRB_drought.zip. Within the zip, the files are organized as follows: - INPUTS: Contains all input data used in UCRB_Drought_Workflow.ipynb - OUTPUTS: Contains all intermediate data created from UCRB_Drought_Workflow.ipynb as well as final products including the calculated Standardized Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) - climatic_variables: The code used to collect meteorologic data from Google Earth Engine - feature_importance: The code used for the catchment attributes analysis - preprocessing: Code used in UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Preprocessing.ipynb - pyeto: Code used in UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Preprocessing.ipynb - calculations: Code used in UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Impacts.ipynb - plotting: Code used in UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Impacts.ipynb - README.md - UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Preprocessing.ipynb: The code used to prep raw data for the analysis - UCRB_Drought_Workflow_Impact.ipynb: The code which uses the prepped raw data for analysis, and plots all figures - requirements_ucrb-drought_v2.yml: The requirements file to create a virtual environment and Jupyter Lab kernel to run the code The INPUTS folder is organized into the following major directories and sub-directories. The "RDC_WT_SC_RAW" folder contains raw data for streamflow, water temperature, and specific conductance in a ".h5" file. The "NLCD_RAW" folder contains ".csv" files with annual land cover percentages for counties within the UCRB. The "MET_RAW" folder contains a ".csv" file with monthly meteorological data (air temperature and precipitation) for the sites in the UCRB which was obtained from code in the climatic_variables folder. The "GAGESII" folder contains ".csv" files with physical catchment attribute variables for catchments across the country. The "WT_LSTM_data" folder contains ".csv" files with calculated WT (Willard, 2023) and the associated RMSEs. The "Upper_Colorado_River_Basin_Boundary" folder contains geographic data including a shapefile for plotting in the UCRB_Drought_Workflow.ipynb. The "RESERVOIRS_RAW" folder contains ".csv" files for each reservoir in the UCRB with daily reservoir storage. There are also two files in the INPUTS folder that have combined reservoir storage data and reservoir metadata. The OUTPUTS folder is organized into the following major directories and sub-directories. The "RDC_WT_SC_data" folder contains a folder "Water_year" with the associated cleaned data, metadata, and data availability information in ".csv" files, a folder "Median_Relchange" with the relative change comparing drought to non-drought years in ".csv" files, and a folder "Peak95_Min5_Relchange" that has ".csv" files for the relative change in peak (95th %) and minimum (5th %) variables. The "NLCD_data" folder contains the difference in land cover from the beginning to end of the study period and the percentage of the county that is within UCRB bounds can be found in Nagamoto et al (2025)). The "MET_data" folder contains separated monthly air temperature and precipitation data and the calculated PET in ".csv" files. The "SPEI_data" folder contains ".csv" files with calculated SPEI values (one restricted to the study period and the other with information from the entire MET data period). The "Paper_Tables" folder contains two ".csv" files containing site information and data availability and information about the GAGESII trait aggregated categories. The base directory includes the file “flmd.csv” for a list and description of all files and the file “dd.csv” for data dictionaries. Scripts for preprocessing, analysis, and figure generation are located in the associated GitHub repository found at [https://github.com/iNAIADS/drought-impacts/tree/develop/UCRB-drought]. UPDATE 1: Title and code file updated to match submitted manuscript 10-15-2025. UPDATE 2: Code and data files updated to match revised manuscript 3-4-2026. UPDATE 3: Code and data files updated to match revised manuscript 6-7-2026. ** NOTE: DD and FLMD have not been updated yet. UPDATE 4: Added associated Manuscript information and DD and FLMD have been updated. To cite this code, please use the following BibTeX: @misc{nagamoto2025drought, author = {Emily Nagamoto and Fabio Ciulla and Mohammad Ombadi and Jared Willard and Rosemary Carroll and Charuleka Varadharajan}, title = {Dataset: "Widespread Drought-driven Declines in Streamflows and Water quality in the Upper Colorado River Basin (1998-2022)"}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.15485/2551894}, publisher = {ESS-DIVE Repository}, url = {https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/datasets/doi:10.15485/2551894} }

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

L-Basin Microbial Monitoring Program - Evaluation of 20 Years of Monitoring

The SRNL L-Basin corrosion surveillance and microbial monitoring programs provide early detection and characterization of corrosion attack to the fuel and storage system materials resulting from prolonged exposure to the L-Basin water environment and of changes to and impact of the diverse microbial population, respectively. The early detection of corrosion allows for adjustment of the water quality, engineering management, and fuel storage configurations to mitigate excessive corrosion attack. While microbial influenced corrosion in L-Basin has not been detected, tracking and understanding the effect of microbial populations on the stored fuel and basin water will aid in identifying remedial measures to mitigate any detrimental impact. This report reviews the microbial monitoring activities since initial characterizations in the mid-1990s.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Basin-Scale Structural Features Database: Spatial Datasets to Support Carbon Storage Resource Assessments

Presentation slides on "Basin-Scale Structural Features Database: Spatial Datasets to Support Carbon Storage Resource Assessments" for CCUS 2025 Annual Meeting. The Basin-Scale Structural Features database contains a series of basin-scale spatial datasets representing structural features, including faults, fractures, folds, and earthquakes. Designed to support carbon storage feasibility and resources assessments for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects, the database leverages publicly available data resources from authoritative sources (e.g. US Geological Survey, State Geologic Surveys), and aims to help users better understand basin-scale structural features, as well as potential data gaps in areas with sparse information.

basin scale↗
NASA NTRS2013

Surface Freshwater Storage and Variability in the Amazon Basin from Multi-Satellite Observations, 1993-2007

The amount of water stored and moving through the surface water bodies of large river basins (river, floodplains, wetlands) plays a major role in the global water and biochemical cycles and is a critical parameter for water resources management. However, the spatio-temporal variations of these freshwater reservoirs are still widely unknown at the global scale. Here, we propose a hypsographic curve approach to estimate surface freshwater storage variations over the Amazon basin combining surface water extent from a multi-satellite-technique with topographic data from the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) from Advance Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Monthly surface water storage variations for 1993-2007 are presented, showing a strong seasonal and interannual variability, and are evaluated against in situ river discharge and precipitation. The basin-scale mean annual amplitude of approx. 1200 cu km is in the range of previous estimates and contributes to about half of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) total water storage variations. For the first time, we map the surface water volume anomaly during the extreme droughts of 1997 (October-November) and 2005 (September-October) and found that during these dry events the water stored in the river and flood-plains of the Amazon basin was, respectively, approx. 230 (approx. 40%) and 210 (approx. 50%) cu km below the 1993-2007 average. This new 15year data set of surface water volume represents an unprecedented source of information for future hydrological or climate modeling of the Amazon. It is also a first step toward the development of such database at the global scale.

Storage↗
DOE OSTI2013

Three-Dimensional Geologic Characterization of a Great Basin Geothermal System: Astor Pass, Nevada

The Great Basin, western USA, exhibits anomalously high heat flow (~75±5 mWm-2) and active faulting and extension, resulting in ~430 known geothermal systems. Recent studies have shown that steeply dipping normal faults in transtensional pull-aparts are a common structural control of these Great Basin geothermal systems. The Astor Pass blind (no surface expression) geothermal system, Nevada, lies along the boundary between the Basin and Range to the east and the Walker Lane to the west. Across this boundary, strain is transferred from dextral shear in the Walker Lane to west-northwest directed extension in the Basin and Range, resulting in a transtensional setting consisting of both northwest-striking, left-stepping dextral faults and northerly striking normal faults. Previous studies indicate that Astor Pass was controlled by the intersection of a northwest-striking dextral normal fault and north-northwest striking normal-dextral fault bounding the western side of the Terraced Hills. Drilling (to ~1200 m) has revealed fluid temperatures of ~94°C, confirming a blind geothermal system. Expanding upon previous work and employing interpretation of 2D seismic reflection data, additional detailed geologic mapping, and well cuttings analysis, a 3-dimensional geologic model of the Astor Pass geothermal system was constructed. The 3D model indicates a complex interaction/intersection area of three discrete fault zones: a northwest-striking dextral-normal fault, a north-northwest-striking normal-dextral fault, and a north-striking west-dipping normal fault. These two discrete, critically-stressed intersection areas plunge moderately to steeply to the NW-NNW and probably act as conduits for upwelling geothermal fluids.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

The Convergence of Heat, Groundwater & Fracture Permeability. Innovative Play Fairway Modelling Applied to the Tularosa Basin Phase 1 Project Report

This report summarizes the activities and key findings of the project team occurring during Phase 1 (August 2014-October 2015) of the Tularosa Basin Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis Project. The Tularosa Basin Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) project tested two distinct geothermal exploration methodologies covering the entire basin within South Central New Mexico and Far West Texas. Throughout the initial phase of the project, the underexplored basin proved to be a challenging, yet ideal test bed to evaluate effectiveness of the team’s data collection techniques as well as the effectiveness of our innovative PFA. Phase 1 of the effort employed a low-cost, pragmatic approach using two methods to identify potential geothermal plays within the study area and then compared and contrasted the results of each method to rank and evaluate potential plays. Both methods appear to be very effective and highly transferable to other areas.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Dam Construction in Lancang-Mekong River Basin Could Mitigate Future Flood Risk From Warming-Induced Intensified Rainfall

Water resources management, in particular flood control, in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) faces two key challenges in the 21st century: climate change and dam construction. Herein, a large scale distributed Geomorphology-Based Hydrological Model coupled with a simple reservoir regulation model (GBHM-MK-SOP) is used to investigate the relative effects of climate change and dam construction on the flood characteristics in the MRB. Results suggest an increase in both flood magnitude and frequency under climate change, which is more severe in the upstream basin and increases over time. However, dam construction and stream regulation reduce flood risk consistently throughout this century, with more obvious effects in the upstream basin where larger reservoirs will be located. The flood mitigation effect of dam regulation dominates over the flood intensification effect of climate change before 2060, but the latter emerges more prominently after 2060 and dominates the flood risk especially in the lower basin.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Steelhead Overshoot and Fallback Rates in the Columbia–Snake River Basin and the Influence of Hatchery and Hydrosystem Operations

Abstract Tributary overshoot occurs when adult salmonids homing to natal sites continue upstream past the mouth of their natal stream. Although overshooting is a common behavior by steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Columbia River basin, it has not been adequately quantified or explained. Using multistate release–recapture models, we examined the prevalence of overshooting and fallback to natal tributaries by 37,806 PIT-tagged steelhead from 14 tributaries of the Columbia River basin during 2005–2015. Eight populations had overshooting rates exceeding 50% in at least 1 year. Source of hatchery stock, rearing location, and release practices were found to have appreciable effects on overshoot rates. Overshooting was elevated in hatchery stocks reared upstream of release sites, but this effect may be lessened by utilizing endemic broodstocks and acclimating juveniles within the release basin. For one population of hatchery steelhead, acclimation within the release basin was found to decrease overshooting from 81% to 40%. Across both hatchery and wild populations, successful homing was found to decline 4 percentage points for every 5-percentage-point increase in overshoot rate. Average annual fallback probabilities ranged from 0.18 for Walla Walla River hatchery steelhead to 0.75 for Umatilla River wild steelhead. Fish stocks with the greatest fallback probabilities also had the greatest interannual variability in fallback rates. For John Day River wild steelhead and Tucannon River hatchery steelhead, the interannual range in fallback probabilities exceeded 0.50. We found evidence that spill at dams during March may enhance the fallback of overshooting steelhead and contribute to increased homing to natal tributaries. Therefore, additional attention should be paid to facilitating downstream dam passage of adult salmon.

Richins, Shelby M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Population assignment of migratory Westslope Cutthroat Trout (WCT) in the Clark Fork–Pend Oreille River basin

Abstract Objective The Clark Fork–Pend Oreille River basin of northeastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle historically supported a robust metapopulation of the Westslope Cutthroat Trout (WCT) Oncorhynchus lewisi, a western native salmonid of high cultural and economic value. The construction of impassible hydroelectric dams and smaller instream barriers has prevented the return of migratory WCT to spawning tributaries, leading to the fragmentation of this metapopulation over the past 100 years. One such impassible barrier is Albeni Falls Dam (AFD) near Newport, Washington, which was completed without fish passage capabilities in 1955. We sought to examine large-scale genetic patterns in the study area and determine the most likely spawning tributary of origin for migratory WCT captured below AFD. Methods We created a genetic baseline representative of populations within the Clark Fork–Pend Oreille River basin from upstream and downstream of the dam using 191 biallelic single-nucleotide polymorphism genetic markers. Our data set included 124 collections, which allowed for an examination of population structure and hatchery influence across the study area and provided a robust tool for population assignment. Population assignment tests were conducted using the program RUBIAS. Result Population assignment tests were successful for all pure WCT of unknown origin despite potential influence from hatchery lineages across the study area. Of 83 migratory WCT captured below AFD, approximately 80% were assigned to tributaries upstream of AFD with a posterior assignment probability of at least 90%. Only one fish was assigned to a tributary downstream of AFD. Conclusion Our results indicate that AFD disrupts the natural metapopulation dynamics of WCT populations in the basin. Passage for WCT at this barrier would reestablish metapopulation connectivity within the basin by allowing migratory individuals to make genetic contributions to populations upstream of the dam.

Wells, Craig D. (ORCID:0000000258513250)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of structure and volcanic stratigraphy on groundwater and surface water flow: Hat Creek basin, California, USA

Abstract Hydrogeologic systems in the southern Cascade Range in California (USA) develop in volcanic rocks where morphology, stratigraphy, extensional structures, and attendant basin geometry play a central role in groundwater flow paths, groundwater/surface-water interactions, and spring discharge locations. High-volume springs (greater than 3 m 3 /s) flow from basin-filling (<800 ka) volcanic rocks in the Hat Creek and Fall River tributaries and contribute approximately half of the average annual flow of the Pit River, the largest tributary to Shasta Lake. A hydrogeologic conceptual framework is constructed for the Hat Creek basin combining new geologic mapping, water-well lithologic logs, a database of active faults, LiDAR mapping of faults and volcanic landforms, streamflow measurements and airborne thermal infrared remote sensing of stream temperature. These data are used to integrate the geologic structure and the volcanic and volcaniclastic stratigraphy to create a three-dimensional interpretation of the hydrogeology in the basin. Two large streamflow gains from focused groundwater discharge near Big Spring and north of Sugarloaf Peak result from geologic barriers that restrict lateral groundwater flow and force water into Hat Creek. The inferred groundwater-flow barriers divide the aquifer system into at least three leaky compartments. The two downstream compartments lose streamflow in the upstream reaches (immediately downstream of the groundwater-flow barriers) and gain in downstream reaches with the greatest inflows immediately upstream of the barriers.

Geology↗
DOE OSTI2019

Rare earth elements and radiogenic strontium isotopes in carbonate minerals reveal diagenetic influence in shales and limestones in the Appalachian Basin

Rare earth element (REE) signatures are often applied to interpret paleoenvironmental conditions in sedimentary basins, however the complicated diagenetic histories in dynamic depositional environments can affect interpretation of measured REE signatures. Prior studies on REE content in shales and limestones indicated that REE in specific mineral phases may provide unique information concerning diagenetic reactions occurring in sedimentary rocks during burial and compaction. Application of sequential extraction techniques to target REE signatures in specific mineral fractions may provide greater insight into the complex processes that occurred during diagenesis and catagenesis. Thus, using this technique, this study provides a detailed account for REE, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, and δ 13 C in the carbonate fraction of the Marcellus Shale and adjacent formations in the Appalachian Basin. A suite of 49 rock samples collected from two cores recovered from Monongalia County, West Virginia, USA was analyzed. The results showed that the carbonate concretions in calcareous shales and carbonate cements in black shales were very distinct. The REE plus yttrium (REY) were more concentrated in the carbonate concretions than in the carbonate cements. The carbonate concretions displayed REY patterns that are closely similar to modern seawater, while MREE-enrichment was observed in the carbonate cements. Likewise, the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values in the carbonate concretions were similar to those measured for unaltered Middle Devonian carbonates, while the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in the carbonate cements were much more radiogenic. This observation indicates that the carbonate cement could have been inherited radiogenic 87 Sr expulsed from clays during illite-smectite transition. Overall, this study demonstrated two distinct processes involved with controlling the carbonate geochemistry within Appalachian Basin shales and limestones: one fraction displaying minimal diagenetic alteration relative to depositional conditions (carbonate concretions in calcareous shales and limestone carbonate in limestones), and another fraction displaying the evidence for extensive chemical alteration during illite-smectite transition and catagenesis (carbonate cements in black shales). Here, in addition, highly variable and significant enrichments of U and Mo demonstrate that the Union Spring member and the Lower Oatka Creek member of the Marcellus Shale in the southwestern Appalachian Basin (MSEEL site) were deposited under mainly anoxic environment whereas intermitted episodes of dysoxic to perhaps oxic conditions occurred during the deposition of the Upper Oatka Creek member.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Variations in annual water-energy balance and their correlations with vegetation and soil moisture dynamics: A case study in the Wei River Basin, China

It is of importance to investigate watershed water-energy balance variations and to explore their correlations with vegetation and soil moisture dynamics, which helps better understand the interplays between underlying surface dynamics and the terrestrial water cycle. The heuristic segmentation method was adopted to identify change points in the parameter to series in Fu's equation belonging to the Budyko framework in the Wei River Basin (WRB) and its sub-basins aiming to examine the validity of stationary assumptions. Additionally, the cross wavelet analysis was applied to explore the correlations between vegetation and soil moisture dynamics and to variations. Results indicated that (1) the omega variations in the WRB are significant, with some change points identified except for the sub-basin above Zhangjiashan, implying that the stationarity of omega series in the WRB is invalid except for the sub-basin above Zhangjiashan; (2) the correlations between soil moisture series and to series are weaker than those between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) series and omega series; (3) vegetation dynamics show significantly negative correlations with omega variations in 1983-2003 with a 4-8 year signal in the whole WRB, and both vegetation and soil moisture dynamics exert strong impacts on the parameter omega changes. This study helps understanding the interactions between underlying land surface dynamics and watershed water-energy balance. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quantifying the effects of urbanization on floods in a changing environment to promote water security — A case study of two adjacent basins in Texas

The increased occurrence of flood events resulting from urbanization and global climate change is a great threat to water security. To systematically evaluate the impacts of urbanization on floods, here we applied a paired catchments approach to two adjacent river basins in south-central Texas — the San Antonio River Basin (SARB), with fast urbanization; and the Guadalupe River Basin (GRB), with little land cover change. A physics-based distributed hydrological model — the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model, embedded with a multi-purpose reservoir module (DHSVM-Res) — was used to simulate streamflow and reservoir storage. The simulations were conducted under different land cover scenarios, including a newly developed continuous land cover series (CLCS). Holistic analyses were then conducted for the paired basins using three methods: analyzing the selected flood events, detecting change points (CP) of monthly floods, and testing the elasticity of long-term flood regimes. The results suggest that: (1) urbanization may reduce lag time and elevate flood peaks significantly by 3–30% in our study area; (2) when there is little land cover change, changing climate is the major driver of variations in the monthly maximum streamflow (MMS); (3) fast urbanization can amplify streamflow variability, increase MMS significantly, and thus alter the timing of CP; and (4) the mean MMS of observed streamflow in the SARB has increased by as much as 75.7% from the pre-CP to post-CP periods. This comprehensive study fills in a gap in our current understanding of the isolated impacts of urbanization on flooding and is expected to support future explorations of anthropogenic influences on floods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗